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Middle-earth Role Playing

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Licensed from the Tolkien Estate, Middle-earth Role Playing (or just MERP) was a Role-Playing Game published by Iron Crown Enterprises from 1982 to 1996 using a streamlined version of the Role Master game rules.

Set in the world of The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings, MERP allowed players to run campaigns in any era of Middle-earth's history—though the default era was the year 1640 of the Third Age, approximately a millennium and a half before the War of the Ring in a time when Sauron is only just starting to rebuild his power. The southern kingdom of Gondor is recovering from civil war, while the northern kingdom of Arnor is under seige from the Witch-King of Angmar. The Great Plague has just ended, drastically reducing the population in northwestern Middle-earth but opening up new opportunities for the survivors. Sauron remains in hiding, but his servants, the Nazgûl, gather forces under his banner. The lands are less settled but also more free, and Elves, Men, Dwarves, and even Hobbits might find adventure.

Because its setting was relatively little-detailed by Tolkien, MERP was allowed a great deal of creative freedom and developed its own mythos derivative but distinct from Tolkien's, with a close attention to the languages and cultures of Middle-earth.

MERP went out of publication in 1996 and the license reverted to the Tolkien Estate. Other Middle-earth RPGs have since been published by Decipher (The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game, 2002-2005, tying into the Peter Jackson movies) and Cubicle 7 (The One Ring, 2011-present, taking place shortly after The Hobbit).

The game had a thriving fan community rallied around the fanzine Other Hands, which ceased publication in 2001. Other Hands was succeeded by an extensive fan module project and the current webzine, Other Minds.

Middle-earth Role Playing provides examples of the following tropes:

Adaptation Expansion: And how. MERP just about doubled the information available on Middle-earth from what Tolkien provided, and that's no mean feat. For example, they provided unique and fleshed-out cultures for the "enemy" Men such as the Easterlings and Southrons.

Animal Motifs: Seven of the nine Nazgûl have a helm based on some sort of animal (Akhôrahil and Ren do not). Khamûl's is dragon, Dwar's is a war-dog, Indûr Dawndeath's is an elephant (or more precisely, a Mûmak), Hoarmûrath's is a polar bear, Adûnaphel's is a falcon, and Ûvatha's is a bat. The Witch-King has a helm in the shape of an octopus because the artist mistook the Dragon-helm of Dor-lómin on the cover ofUnfinished Tales for the crown of Númenor, which she assumed was a cephalopod (Númenor being a seafaring civilization; in fact, the crown of Númenor was a simple winged helm).

Fantasy Counterpart Culture: MERP's take on the Easterlings was very strongly based on Mongol horsemen. (Ignoring the fact that Tolkien explicitly notes they used horses mainly for pulling wagons and chariots and rarely fielded cavalry.)

Half-Human Hybrid: In addition to Tolkien's half-elves and half-orcs, MERP introduced the Umli, a race descended from the union of Men and Dwarves, who live in the Northern Waste.

Hobbits: Naturally. They're a bit less soft and complacent than they are in The Lord of the Rings, though—the Shire has only been settled for about 40 years, and a lot of Hobbit clans are still wandering in the Wild.

Poison Is Corrosive: Supplement Rivendell: The House of Elrond. One of the poisons listed in the 9.1 Herbal Chart table was Camadarch Acid. When mixed with alcohol, it inflicted Heat critical hits on the victim.

Quirky Miniboss Squad: The nine Ringwraiths, each of whom was given a distinct backstory and personality.

Red Oni, Blue Oni: Marcho and Blanco Fallohide, the co-founders of the Shire. Marcho's aggressive leadership gathered the many Hobbit clans together, while Blanco's soft-spoken diplomacy convinced King Argeleb of Arthedain to grant them the Shire to live in.

Treasure Room: The beacon tower of Calenhad in Gondor has an Upper Treasury room. It's filled with gold and mithril coins, various rare and valuable goods and the Tower Captain's collection of magic items, including two magical swords and a pair of magical boots.

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